HIM FAMILY NEWS
Hope Chicago, America
The NA conference in New York City this August 2011 was awesome. God’s people were blessed and encouraged. Thanks to our Hope NYC team for hosting this year and elders from overseas for coming to inspire us. Together, we can make a difference. Not only that, Hope Chicago got an additional blessing from Pastor Ben and Pastor Dinah’s visitation that same month.
It was their first summer in Chicago. They arrived on Thursday. We had informal time together on Friday. On Saturday morning, Pastor Ben and Pastor Dinah joined the prayer meeting with our core team. We soaked in God’s presence during the worship. As we prayed for one another, the Holy Spirit moved powerfully in our midst through prophetic words. We all were encouraged and strengthened in spirit. After lunch, more members came and fellowshipped with Pastor Ben and Pastor Dinah. Later in the afternoon, fifteen of us went out for bowling. Miracle happened in the bowling alleys. Pastor Ben who hardly bowls and had not bowled for years had five strikes and finished with the second highest score. We are convinced that he is truly anointed in bowling. We ended the day with farewell dinner for Rachel who returned to Thailand the following week.
On Sunday, we had five visitors came to worship with us. Pastor Ben spoke from the Bible on discipleship and we witnessed one salvation. There was a birthday party after lunch. We ended the day with BBQ picnic dinner near Lake Michigan. All of our brothers and sisters enjoyed their fellowship especially their teachings, inspirations, and prophetic time. Thanks Pastor Ben and Pastor Dinah for spending time with us.
By Malay Nattawut, Hope Chicago church
Hope Singapore Mission Trip to Cebu
In June this year, seven of ordinary people sailed off from Singapore to Cebu, the Philippines for our first short-term missions trip. We were excited and filled with anticipation as we met with many other energetic young and like-minded people in Youth with a Mission (YWAM), the organization that hosted us over there. With voices of praises and worship, we set forth to fulfill our purpose there.
In these short five days in the mission field, incredible things happened that astonished the team and me! We acted the Bible story of David and Goliath and the kids love it. We sang and dance in front of a group of other singers and dancers, but nonetheless they enjoyed it. We share God’s amazing love in our lives in English, which were interpreted into Cebuano. Praise the Lord that souls responded to the message and accepted Christ into their lives!
We enjoyed the trip so much and our hearts were overflowing by God’s faithfulness. The people that we met in Cebu have impacted our view of living for God. Even if we cannot preach in front of large audiences, we can still share. We may not be able to act professionally but we can interact with people. We may not sing and dance well but we can still use our voice and body! It is not a matter of how skillful we are, but what is in the heart. We can be the bridge God can use.
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us”
2 Corinthians 5:20a
Hope Labuan, Malaysai - Salt & Light Ministry
The Salt and Light Ministry was established in March 2011. It was birthed out of a new and deep burden for the poor and needy living in the rundown slums of Kpg Kiam Sam, Labuan. This bold step of faith was spurred in response to our calling in Matthew 5:13-16 to be “the salt of the Earth and the light of the world” so that when our good deeds shine out for all to see, everyone will praise our heavenly Father. Our ministry objective: as followers of Christ fulfilling Matthew 5:13-16, we want to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world by bringing the real and practical love of Jesus Christ to an unreached community.
Therefore, on 2 April 2011, a team of 12 people (including one licensed GP) from Hope Labuan boldly took a leap of faith and held a free “Children Health Campaign” to the villagers of Kpg. Kiam Sam Baru Labuan. For a majority of our members, this was the first time they had served the community in this way; we really did not know what to expect! However, despite their concerns and inexperience in community service work, the team of 12 went ahead. At the end of a tiring day, their effort was rewarded because in the end, they had given their best and blessed about 108 poor and needy children that day!
Since our first free health campaign in April 2011, we have taken another two steps of faith: bringing a larger team as well as adding creativity and fun into our free health campaigns. For instance, in May 2011 which was our second children health campaign, we received an overwhelming response from the Hope Labuan church members who eagerly wanted volunteer their weekend in order to pour out their heart to serve this poor. Praise God! As a result, in May, we brought 35 team members; including doctors, nurses and two non-believers. We also received overwhelming response from the second Kampung (village) we visited. The villagers in Kpg. Kiam Sam Lama and Ketua Kampung welcomed our presence with open arms. The campaign blessed 150 children at its successful conclusion.
During our third campaign on the 2 July 2011, we decided to take another step of faith and hold two free campaigns simultaneously – a Children Health and Dental Campaign at another separate Kampung. Even though our campaign was almost cancelled at the last minute, God intervened and we were able to proceed as planned. This time round, we brought in an even bigger team – 45 people. It was encouraging to have a non-believer from our second campaign join us again. She said she was touched by her experience from that campaign! The Children Health campaign came to a close with 60 children being blessed. In addition to that, the highlight was the dental campaign where, with the help of a Dentist in training and her seven assistants, around 100+ children had so much fun: from drawing healthy fruits and vegetables to singing and practicing the right way of brushing teeth!
In conclusion, despite the hot weather, the stench coming from the unhygienic and muddy surroundings, no toilet facilities, overbearing and pushy large crowds and tiredness, it was so wonderful to see the heart of servitude and faithfulness of all the volunteers in the team. In addition to that, volunteers all agreed that the ones truly blessed from our volunteering our time to serve the poor and needy were OURSELVES – hallelujah! Partner with us in prayer so that our volunteers will continue this race to be the salt and light in our community and beyond.
Hope Melbourne - Born To Fly Children Program
Hi! “Born to Fly” Kids Holiday Program is a multi-day community event designed especially for primary school children. The event is FREE for all primary school children to attend and is organised by Hands of Hope, the community arm of Hope Christian Church Melbourne. The aim of 'Born to Fly' is to build self-esteem and leadership character qualities in children, and to inspire them to develop to their full potential. This year, Born to Fly Kids Holiday Program had another overwhelming response; over 300 children attended the three-day activity and over 250 parents turned up for the celebration of the program.
We at Hope Christian Church Melbourne believe that the Children of Character Today make Soaring Leaders of Tomorrow. Therefore, we hope that the characteristics and values we encourage throughout our program will make a positive impact on their futures. Born to Fly encourages positive characteristics by emphasising their importance through a variety of creative activities; including puppetry, songs, arts and crafts, skits, games and creative performances!
We at Hope Christian Church Melbourne believe that the Children of Character Today make Soaring Leaders of Tomorrow. Therefore, we hope that the characteristics and values we encourage throughout our program will make a positive impact on their futures. Born to Fly encourages positive characteristics by emphasising their importance through a variety of creative activities; including puppetry, songs, arts and crafts, skits, games and creative performances!
Of course, every event faces challenges. This year, the committee faced a couple of major hurdles: limited sponsorship and a lower number of volunteers. By prayer and the grace of God, we managed to pull through together. Praise the Lord! In fact, we received great feedback from parents and children who attended the program.
Praise God for His wonderful deeds. We saw a number of children who were shy and quiet on the first day leave with big smiles and excitement for the next two days. Since the beginning of Born to Fly in 2005, we have had children returning year after year with an expressed desire to see Born To Fly become a weekly event! In addition to this, our homegrown songs drew a round of applause from the crowd and many CDs were sold.
One of the major highlights was that the Deputy Mayor of Monash City Council, Cr Micaela Drieberg attended to help present prizes and certificates to our little participants. Ziggy (our Mascot) was also on hand to announce the names of all the outstanding children that performed well in learning and displaying the character qualities as they received their awards from Ps Ian. Sincerity and tolerance were the character traits taught this year. The Deputy Mayor was encouraged by the multicultural nature of the event and offered to help with Born to Fly 2012. It is very encouraging news for the committee.
We had a BBQ on the last day of the program and the weather was awesome. We thank God that His hand was on the weather and that the Weather Bureau was wrong as it forecasted it to be cloudy and showers throughout the day. Our God is an amazing God who has done it again! He answered the prayers of His people who fasted and prayed together.
Last but not least, we would like to also offer our deepest gratitude to all our major sponsors: Hope Christian Church Melbourne, Brandon Park Community Centre, Dr Sze Lee, Nandos and all other sponsors for their in- kind donations and anonymous cheques we received; it was just enough to get the program to run smoothly and feed the hungry kids.
We are very thankful to all our volunteers who gave their time and effort cheerfully to make this event so awesome for the children and for making a difference in the community! Well done to all the participants of Born to Fly Kids 2011 for flying with us, we hope to see you soon again. This is your captain speaking, Elena over and out.
CCM Conference 2011 “Radicalis” was a huge success. It was an adrenaline-pumping weekend, whereby close to 200 young people gathered to sit under the Word of God. Pastor Lance preached to us on the “Fear of God”. In particular, Pastor Lance challenged us to not take God lightly. He is a compassionate God; however, it is definitely not a smart move to oppose Him. Pastor Joshua preached to us about “Radical Love” and “Radical Multiplication”. These two messages reinforce the direction that the Lord has given to the student district at Hope Church, Brisbane.
Since the end of 2010, the Lord has laid in Pastor Joshua’s heart and the hearts of the leaders that we are to believe Him for radical multiplication. The presence of the Holy Spirit was overwhelming in bring convictions into our hearts. On the Sunday morning, many people renewed their commitment to the Lord in loving and serving His Kingdom purpose; more than 10 people were baptized with the Holy Spirit; three people made the decision to accept Christ. Other than encountering God, we thoroughly enjoyed one another’s company. One of the highlights of our program was “CCM’s Got Talent”, through which we witnessed the gifts the Lord has given His people.
The reason we themed our conference “Radicalis” (Radical) was that we want to go back to the root (Christ). We believe that it definitely served its purpose. “Glory to God in the highest, peace to men in whom His favor rests.” Luke 2:14
Written by Ray Chan
